


3 Times Dani Was "Just Being Nice" (and 1 Time She Wasn't)

by argentumauream



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 20:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21326182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argentumauream/pseuds/argentumauream
Summary: 3 + 1 snapshots from Aubrey and Dani's budding relationship in a random high school AU.
Relationships: Dani/Aubrey Little
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	3 Times Dani Was "Just Being Nice" (and 1 Time She Wasn't)

**Author's Note:**

> This is based loosely on a post by tumblr user trashpits. This is also corny as hell.

~ 1 ~

It wasn’t super easy transferring to a new school right in the middle of the second semester of her Junior year, but with her dad’s job taking them around the country constantly, Aubrey was used to it. It was early April, and the snow was just starting to melt in middle-of-fucking-nowhere West Virginia as Aubrey made the trudge to the bus stop. There were a couple other kids waiting there when she arrived, a boy and a girl, who were laughing and talking and didn’t seem to notice her. They looked like they might’ve been siblings, both with blonde hair and similar builds. She stopped a polite distance from them and pulled out her phone.

“-so the wicked witch of the of west knocks over a bucket of water and melts herself.” the boy was saying. “You could say… she _ kicked the bucket!” _

Aubrey glanced over just in time to see the girl smack him upside the head, even though she was giggling. “Jake, that is the shittiest joke you’ve ever come up with and that is _ saying _something.”

“Please, it’s hilarious and you know it.”

“It’s really not.” 

“No one appreciates my genius.” The boy lamented dramatically. 

The girl was still giggling as Aubrey glanced over again. She had turned slightly away from the boy in exasperation, so Aubrey could see her face. She had a ton of freckles, and was wearing a denim jacket covered in buttons and patches. Aubrey had always wanted a jacket like that, and this girl was pulling it off well. She was _ cute _too, and her giggle was infectious. 

Aubrey turned away trying not to smile, she didn’t want them to think she was eavesdropping. She tried not to, though there wasn’t much else to do, so she listened to the two of them chatting and teasing each other amicably for a few minutes. Aubrey put away her phone after candy crush got boring, and as she was looking around to take in the scenery of her new neighborhood, she accidentally made eye contact with the girl. She quickly pulled out her phone again and stared down at it awkwardly.

A second later though, the two of them had approached her. 

“Hi!” The girl said. “Do you go to Kepler High? 

“Yeah! Uh, it’s gonna be my first day actually, just moved here.”

“Cool. I’m Dani, and this is my brother Jake. We both go there too.” She smiled. _ Cute. _

“Awesome!” Aubrey smiled back, trying desperately not to be flustered. “I’m Aubrey.” She added hurriedly after an awkward pause. 

“Nice to meet you Aubrey.” Said Jake, shooting her finger guns.  
It was then that the bus pulled around the corner. The moment it pulled up a couple kids that looked about Jake’s age leaned out the back windows and yelled out his name.

“Yeah yeah I’m coming!” He shot a grin back at Aubrey and Dani before jogging to the bus.

“Wanna sit with me?” Dani asked as they boarded the bus.

“Yeah! Thanks.”

Conversation was a little awkward at first, but Aubrey still appreciated that Dani was clearly trying to make friends. She learned that Dani was also a junior, (and Jake was a freshman) so they’d probably be in some classes together.

“I love your jacket by the way.” Aubrey said eventually.

“Oh thanks! I’ve been collecting buttons and patches for it for like three years.” She smiled proudly.

Aubrey took a moment to look closer at all the pins. She recognized some bands and fandom references. A big patch on the left side pocket told her Dani was a gryffindor. 

“I’m a gryffindor too.” She grinned gesturing to it. Then she pointed to a button on the right side with forest green block letters. “What’s Amnesty Lodge?”

“That’s where I live, it’s like a ski lodge. My mom runs it.”

“Oh that’s cool!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty neat. I get to meet a lot of interesting people passing through Kepler.”

“Like that FBI agent!” Jake leaned forward from where he sat behind them.

“What?” Aubrey looked between them as Dani laughed. 

“Okay, he _ claimed _ to be an FBI agent, but he also claimed to be hunting bigfoot.”

“I dunno, he looked pretty convincing to me.”

“You also thought that Ned Chicane in a wookie costume was a convincing bigfoot.”

Jake flopped back into his seat to elbow the kd next to him. “Shut up Keith!”

Dani rolled her eyes and Aubrey laughed. For the rest of the ride, Aubrey asked questions about the meanings behind the various accessories on the jacket. It seemed like Dani had a story for each of them. When the bus pulled into the parking lot and they parted ways to go to class, they agreed to meet up again at lunch. 

Maybe, Aubrey thought, middle-of-fucking-nowhere Kepler West Virginia wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

  
  


~ 2 ~

“Do you think plants have feelings?” Aubrey mused. She was lounging on Dani’s bed in Amnesty lodge, supposedly studying for the upcoming chemistry test. 

Dani, who was supposed to be writing an essay, spun around in her desk chair. “I’m not sure, but can you imagine how fucked up it’d be if they did?”

“Yeah?” Aubrey grinned, amused, and closed her textbook, dropping the pretense of work. 

“Imagine you were mowing the lawn and every single flower you cut down was screaming ‘please! I don’t wanna die!’”

Aubrey blinked at her. “What the fuck Dani?”

“What? I said it’d be fucked up. And you suggested it, not me.” 

They looked at each other for a second before dissolving into laughter. Dani stood and went over to the bed, flopping face down next to Aubrey.

“Ugh, this essay is gonna kill me.” She looked up. “I am dying Aubrey, dying.”

Aubrey laughed again and poked Dani’s cheek, which earned her a face scrunch. (Which was _ unfairly _ adorable, she tried to stop herself from thinking.) “You think you have it bad? Try having a chemistry test with Mr. Roland in _ first period. _Like, how does he expect me to remember the entire periodic table when it’s 8:30 in the fucking morning??”

Dani pulled herself up. “Sure sure. But I have to write a 3,000 word essay by _ Thursday. _ Mrs. Waxman assigned this on _ Monday. _I’d take Mr. Roland’s chemistry test over that any day.” 

She punctuated her last words by booping Aubrey on the nose, and giggled when she jerked back reflexively. 

“Hey!” Aubrey shoved her gently in retaliation, but Dani seemed to take that as a challenge because the next thing Aubrey knew she had a face full of feather pillow. 

“Oh, fuck you!” She screeched grabbing a pillow herself, but the anger was diluted by the giggles spilling out of her mouth at the same time. 

Somehow the pillow fight lasted only about ten seconds before it just turned into a wrestling match, and the next thing Aubrey knew Dani had her pinned flat on the mattress.

“Ha!” Dani huffed breathlessly at her victory. 

But Aubrey was a little distracted by noticing how close their faces were, and how she could feel Dani’s warm breath on her nose. It’d be so easy to just lean up and-

She shut down that thought immediately, and luckily a second later Dani cleared her throat and rolled off her so they were lying side by side.

Dani pulled out her phone, but Aubrey found herself staring up at the ceiling as they lay in silence for a moment.

She’d known from the moment she met Dani that she was cute, I mean anyone with eyes could tell that much. It only took a few weeks of hanging out for them to become best friends, and about a week after that for Aubrey to realize she was hopelessly in love with her. I mean how could she not be? Dani was beautiful, and smart, and hilarious, and had the coolest denim jacket, and she knew every single hiking trail around Kepler by heart. She’d taken Aubrey on a couple hikes, which wasn’t usually Aubrey’s thing but doing it with Dani made it way more fun.

Suddenly Dani sat up, shaking Aubrey out of her thoughts. 

“Okay but for real, you gotta practice this. C’mon I’ll quiz you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that!”

“Nah it’ll be fun, c’mon!” Dani scooted to the other end of the bed so they were facing each other and picked up Aubrey’s textbook. 

“You have a whole entire essay to write.” Aubrey reminded her.

“Yeah yeah, I’ll get to it.” Then she was clearing her throat and reading out a question from the book.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the affectionate smile on her face as she sat up to answer the question. 

  
  
  
  


~ 3 ~

Aubrey walked the familiar trail with a spring in her step. She and Dani had agreed to meet up at their favorite hangout spot, a scenic overlook a little ways up Mount Kepler. They hadn’t seen a whole lot of each other since summer break started, (though they’d been texting a bunch) so Aubrey was excited to see her again. Plus, she wanted to show her something. 

As she crested the hill, she spotted Dani sitting on a rocky outcropping, eyes closed and wind blowing her hair around her face. Despite the rising temperatures she was still wearing her denim jacket, which made Aubrey smile. She really was beautiful, said one part of her brain. Shut up, said the other part. 

“Hey Dani!” She called out as she approached. 

Dani opened her eyes and hopped off the rock, grinning. “Hey!” 

“Check it out!” Aubrey said when they were face to face, and she did a quick 360 turn to show off her new denim vest. She’s painted the back with a firey design and the title “Lady Flame” in fancy script. “I was thinking I could start collecting pins and patches and stuff too and we could kinda match.” She found herself blushing a little as she realized this might sound kind of silly. She hoped Dani didn’t notice. 

If she did she didn’t say anything. On the contrary, she looked excited, and without warning she ripped the gryffindor patch off her own jacket and offered it to her. “Something to start you off.” She grinned.

“You didn’t have to do that!” Aubrey exclaimed, but she still took the patch.

Dani waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, still smiling, and went back to sit on the rock again. She patted the spot next to her.

Aubrey felt a soft smile on her face as she walked over, watching Dani watch the scenery. When she sat down she fiddled with the patch, turning it over in her hands. It made her smile more. 

They sat in comfortable silence for a little while, and at some point Dani leaned over to rest her head on Aubrey’s shoulder. Aubrey felt her heartbeat pick up.

God, she really had it bad.

  
  


~ +1 ~

Aubrey and Dani had a week left of senior year, so of course instead of studying they had stolen some of Mama’s beers at two in the morning to celebrate.

They had been drinking and laughing for a while and Aubrey was feeling pleasantly buzzed. 

“Ooooh we should play truth or dare!” Dani suddenly exclaimed in the middle of a completely unrelated conversation. 

“I’m way to tired to do dares right now.”

Dani rolled her eyes. “Fine, then truth or truth. You go first.” 

“Uhhhhh,” Aubrey blanked. “What’s the dumbest joke you’ve ever heard.”

Dani scoffed. “Oh come on, that’s a lame question.”

“I dunno! I couldn’t think of anything.”

Dani thought for a moment, then dissolved into giggles. “Oh you already know this one!”

“I do?”

“So the wicked witch of the west-” She couldn’t even finish the joke before they both cracked up. 

“You’re right that is pretty bad.”

“And yet here we are laughing.” Dani raised her eyebrows and tapped her temple in a ‘think about it’ gesture, which only made the two of them giggle more. 

“Okay okay,” Aubrey composed herself. “Your turn.”

“Hmm.” Dani thought for so long Aubrey thought she might forget about the game entirely, but then she suddenly asked, “Do you like anyone?” 

Dani was staring at her intently, and for a moment she froze.

“Like, a crush.” Dani clarified, as if it wasn’t obvious.

Aubrey kind of wanted to pretend it was the alcohol that made her answer “Yeah.” but honestly she hadn’t drunk that much.

Dani raised her eyebrows. “Who?”

“Nuh uh, you didn’t ask _ who _ , you just asked _ if. _” She mimicked Dani’s earlier gesture despite the way her heart was pounding, and she snickered. “Now it’s my turn.”

“Fair enough, ask away.”

“Do you like anyone?” Aubrey said almost immediately. She had no idea what she was doing, and there was a small part of her brain telling her to shut up before she ruined everything, but the way Dani’s mouth quirked up slightly at the question stopped her from backtracking. 

“Yeah.” Dani took a long swig of her beer. 

“Who?” 

It was out of her mouth before she could stop it, but before she could take it back or laugh it off, Dani leaned over to set her beer down on the bedside table and replied casually, “You.” 

Aubrey’s heart, which had been beating at about a million miles an hour, suddenly stopped.

“W-What?” 

“My turn.” Dani said as if she hadn’t heard her. When she settled back onto the bed, she was somehow much closer then she had been before. Her goofy, slightly drunk demeanor had been replaced by something a little more intense.

“_ Who _do you like?” She said it quietly, like it was a secret between the two of them.

Maybe that was what made Aubrey reply, voice barely above a whisper, “You.”

There was a second and a half (the longest second and a half of Aubrey’s life) where neither of them moved, and she began to wonder if she’d just done something horribly wrong. But then Dani shifted forward to bridge the last few inches separating them, her lips pressed softly against Aubrey’s, and they were kissing. 

They were _ kissing. Kissing! _ Aubrey’s brain supplied helpfully. First it was just tentative little movements, but when Aubrey responded Dani got bolder. She lifted one hand to Aubrey’s cheek and the other tangled in her hair, and Aubrey found herself wrapping her arms around Dani’s waist. Dani tilted her head and deepened the kiss, letting out a soft noise that made Aubrey’s insides melt. She wanted to make her make that noise as many times as she possibly could. 

After what felt like forever and not nearly long enough, they pulled apart. Aubrey’s eyes were wide, and Dani was smiling softly at her, the corners of her eyes crinkling in a way that was so cute it almost distracted Aubrey from what she wanted to say next.

“So you- this is- how long?!” She exclaimed.

Dani looked surprised for a second, then she dissolved into almost hysterical laughter. She collapsed against Aubrey and nuzzled her face into her neck. (It was a feat of great determination that she didn’t give up on her questions to just to bask in that feeling forever.)

“About- about since we met.” Dani managed through her giggles.

“What!?!” Aubrey practically shrieked, which only made Dani laugh louder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

At that Dani sat up to look at her indignantly. “I tried!”

“When??” Aubrey was dumbfounded.

“What did you think all those nights I stayed up with you helping you study meant? Or all the times I kicked Jake out of our sleepovers so we could be alone? Or taking you to literally the _ most _romantic hangout spots in Kepler? I tried to talk to you when we first met because I saw you and my first thought was ‘shit she’s cute.’” 

Aubrey just blinked at her.

“Aubrey I ripped a patch right off my jacket to give to you. What did you think that was?”

“That wasn’t just being nice????”

Dani rolled her eyes and surged forward to seal their lips together again, and as Aubrey kissed her back with enthusiasm she decided that some things didn’t need an explanation. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I dedicate this fic to my sibling who sent me a tumblr post and demanded a Danbrey fic. Check them out @carecosplays on instagram for lit TAZ cosplays. (Among other things)


End file.
